chi-rho & alpha-omega

Paraments

Chi-rho was a secret symbol used by early Christians to denote their faith, being the first two letters of Christ in capitalized Greek, CRISTOS. Rho may be drawn with a break to look more like a shepherd’s crook, recalling one of the “I Am” statements from John’s Gospel, “I am the good shepherd.” Chi-rho often appears by itself.

Alpha and Omega come from another great “I Am” statement, this from God the Father in Revelation 1:8: “I am the Alpha and the Omega” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” It recalls God’s response to Moses asking His name in Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” There is some sentiment that Alpha and Omega also refer to God the Son, given the Gospel of John’s description of how The Word became Flesh (John 1:1-14). In any event, Alpha and Omega represent God — as the Father, or the Son, or both.